Monorail car truck



Dec. 17, 1929. P. s. coMBs, JR

MONORAIL CAR TRUCK Original Filed Nov. 29, 1926 2 ShetS-Sheet Dec. 17,1929. P. 5. comes, JR

MONOHAIL CAR TRUCK Original Filed Nov. 29. 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 1 v RNZ 7 mm w 5. a W n I! 2 my h B 9% in M Q I Patented Dec. 17, 1929 erasrarer: cares PRESLEY S. COMES, JR., OF CHICAGO, ILLZNOES, ASSIGNOR TOMONORAIL ENGINEERING CORPORATION, OF CHICAGO, ILLZYNOIS. A CORPORATIONOF ILLINOIS MONORAIL CAR TRUCK This application is a substitute forapplicants prior application, Serial No. 151325, iiled November 29,1926.

This invention relates to monorail car construction and moreparticularly to means for providing a certain amount of flexibility oryielding between the car trucks and the hangers. In monorail structures,particularly of the over-running type in which the cars are suspendedfrom overhead rails on which the trucks run, I have found it necessaryor advisable to provide means whereby the hangers, which are rigidlysecured to the. car bodies, may have a certain amount of play orswinging movement longitudinally with respect to the truck and alsolaterally with respect to the same and in order to provide such relativemovements, 1 have devised a universal joint connect-ion between thehanger and the trucks, which forms one of the novel features or thisinvention. Inasmuch as the trucks are held upright by the weight of thecar, I have provided resilient means tending to hold these parts innormal position.

The longitudinal oscillation or movement is particularly necessary topermit the trucks to readily accommodate themselves to verticalvariations or curves in the track so as to avoid undue strains whichwould be occasioned it the hangers were rigidly secured to the trucks.

The objects of this invention are to provide a novel connection betweena monorail truck and the car hanger or hangers; to provide a universaljoint connection between the truck and the hanger and resilient meanstending to hold these parts in predetermined or normal position; toprovide a monorail truck and hanger with a ball and socketjointconnection and with means tending to hold the parts in normal positionwhile permitting the swinging movement of the truck on the joint in ahorizontal direction; to provide a monorail truck and hanger with auniversal joint connection and a resiliently mounted cage or housing onthe truck which is engaged by rollers on the arm of the hanger fortending to hold the parts in normal position: and to provide such otheradvantages and novel features as will appear more fully from thefollowing description.

This application filed ()ctober 5,

In the accompanying drawings illustrating this invention Figure 1 is aside view of a truck showing the hanger mounting;

Figure 2 is a plan view of a portion of the same;

lligure 3 is a sectional View taken on the line of Figure 4;

Figure 4 is a vertical sectional View;

Figure 5 is a sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of Figure 4; and

Figure 6 is a sectional View taken on the line 6-6 of Figure 4.

As shown in these figures, parts are illustrated diagrammatically orbroken away for convenience in illustration, as will be readilyunderstood from the different views.

The car truck 7 which may be constructed in any ordinaryor preferredmanner is pro vided with wheels 8 which run on a rail 9 which may besupported as by means of beams 10 and posts or supporting members (notshown).

A plate or casting 11 is secured to the lower beams 12 of the truck andhas a central curved or spherical bearing 13. This is engaged by asimilarly curved socket or learing member 14; which projects downwardlyand is rigidly secured to the upper end of the U- shaped hanger 15.These two bearing members form a ball and socket joint or pivot betweenthe truck and hanger so as to permit a substantially universal swingingmovement between these parts. The pivot or hearing member 14 is held inengagement with the pivotor hearing 13 by means of keepers 16 and 1'?which are secured to the truck frame and which project over the uppercurved surface of the bearing 14.

A plate 18 is secured to the lower truck beams 12 and similar plate 19secured to the upper truck beams 20, and a cage or housing 21resiliently supported as by means of any ltable springs, between theseplates. In the present instance, pins or bolts 22 are secured to theupper portion of the housing and project upwardly through holes in theplate 19 and are provided with nuts 23 and washers 24 which engage withsprings 25, resting on the upper surface of the plate 19.

Similar bolts 26 project downwardly through the plate 1.8 and areprovided with nuts 27 and washers 28 which coact with the springs on thelower side of the plate 18. In this manner, the housing is yieldinglysupported between the plates 18 and 19. The upper horizontal arm 30 ofthe hanger or support is provided on either side with brackets 31 inwhich are mount-ed upper rollers 32 and lowcrrollcrs 33. These rollersare adapted to engage with or roll on the adjacent upper and lowersurfaces of the housing 21 and are preferably made conical or taper-edso as to engage with the similarly tapered or bevelled surfaces of thehousing. As shown in Figure 6, the housing 21 has an opening 3 throughwhich the arm projects and is allowed sufficient play for its relativemovement with respect to the truck.

By means of this arrangement, it will be seen that the weight of the carbody 35 and the lead carried thereby will be supported on the universaljoints between hangers and the trucks, and at the same time the truckmay have a limited movement in all directions, except vertically, withrespect to the hanger, but this movement resisted by the action of therollers 32 and 33 which engage with the housin 21 and any movement ofthis housing with respect to the truck is opposed by the springs whichtend to hold it in central or normal position. On account of this novelyielding support between the hangers and the trucks, the trucks arepermitted such movement as maybe desirable for the best operation of thesystem.

While I have shown a preferred form of my invention, it will be evidentto those skilled in the art that changes may be made in the details ofconstruction without departin g from the essential engineeringprinciples involved, and therefore I do not wish to be limited to theexact form herein shown and described, except as specified in thefollowing claims, in which I claim;

1. The combination with a monorail truck, of a hanger having a universaloint connection therewith, a cage resiliently mounted in the truck, andmeans onthe hanger for enga gement with the cage throughout the rangeofmovement of the hanger and tending to hold the hanger in normalposition with respect to the truck.

2. The combination with a truck, of a car hanger, a ball and socketjoint between the truck and hanger, a housing mounted for verticalmovement in the truck, springs tending to hold the housing in normalposition, and means on the hanger engaging with the housing, thearrangement being such that the hanger is permitted to swing in alldirections with respect to the truck, such movement however beingresisted by thesprings which tend to return the parts to normalposition.

3. In an apparatus of the character set forth, the combination with atruck having wheels for supporting the same on a single rail, of a car,a substantially U-shaped hanger for supporting the car from the truck, aball and socket connection between the hanger and truclna housing havingopposed bearing faces, bolts engaging with said housing and projectingthrough portions of the truck, springs engaging with said bolts andtruck and tending to hold the housing in centralized position, bracketson the hanger, and rollers on the brackets engaging with the bearingfaces of the housing.

l, The combination with a monorail truck having a substantiallyspherical bearing in the lower portion thereof, of a car hanger having acorrespondingly. shaped bearing member engaging with the first namedbearing, means tending to hold the bearing members in engagement witheach other, upper and lower plates on said truck, a housing havingopposed upper and lower bearing surfaces, bolts secured to the upperportion of said housing and passing through the upper plate on thetruck, bolts secured to th lower portion of the housing and passingthrough the lower plate on the truck, springs coacting with the truckand housing and tending to hold the housing in normal position, andbearing members secured to the hanger and engaging with the bearingfaces of the housing;

5. The combination with a monorail truck, of a car hanger having auniversal joint connection with the truck, a cage resiliently mounted inthe truck and adapted to embrace a portion of the hanger whilepermitting the necessary movement of the hanger with respect to thetruck, said cage having oppositely disposed diverging bearing faces andconical rollers mounted on the hanger and engaging PRESLEY s. ooMBs, JR.

